1-1 1 1-2 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 689 1-3 WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas is proud to 1-4 celebrate April 11, 1999, through April 17, 1999, as National 1-5 Library Week; during this time, Texas will honor its own libraries, 1-6 as well as those throughout the nation; and 1-7 WHEREAS, As libraries are vital to Texans' intellectual 1-8 enrichment and are an indispensable part of the state's and the 1-9 nation's educational system, it is only fitting that we express 1-10 gratitude for this most fortunate resource; and 1-11 WHEREAS, Texas public libraries serve their communities 1-12 in countless ways; they prepare preschool children to begin 1-13 elementary education; in helping to ensure adult literacy, 1-14 libraries safeguard a lifetime of opportunities for all Texans; 1-15 and our college and university libraries are key to the 1-16 outstanding quality of research and teaching produced by our 1-17 Texas institutions of higher education; and 1-18 WHEREAS, Texans visit the library over 100 million times each 1-19 year to borrow more than 70 million items; one million students and 1-20 faculty visit and perform research at our university libraries; and 1-21 WHEREAS, Texas libraries perform vital public services; they 1-22 provide literacy programs which help nearly 90,000 Texans per year 1-23 learn to read or to improve their reading skills; they offer a 1-24 broad range of free programs, which include popular book clubs, 2-1 senior-citizen exercise classes, concerts, author talks, children's 2-2 programs, investment lectures, cooking classes, and more; and 2-3 WHEREAS, As the internet information superhighway becomes 2-4 evermore essential in our society, public libraries ensure that 2-5 all citizens have access to this resource; three-quarters of the 2-6 nation's libraries now offer public on-line access; and 2-7 WHEREAS, The indispensable services the nation's libraries 2-8 perform are supervised by millions of exceptional librarians; these 2-9 professionals help thousands of patrons sift through prodigious 2-10 amounts of available information, to find the best resource; and 2-11 WHEREAS, The theme for this year's National Library Week is 2-12 "Read! Learn! Connect! @ the Library"; this is the time to celebrate 2-13 the gift of our communities' and schools' libraries; these are the 2-14 institutions that give the citizens of Texas and the United States 2-15 the ability to read, learn, and connect to ideas and information; 2-16 now, therefore, be it 2-17 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 2-18 76th Legislature, hereby commend the week-long celebration of 2-19 National Library Week from April 11 through April 17; and, be it 2-20 further 2-21 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared to honor 2-22 this worthy event. 2-23 Zaffirini 2-24 ______________________________________ 2-25 President of the Senate 2-26 I hereby certify that the above 2-27 Resolution was adopted by the Senate 2-28 on April 20, 1999. 2-29 ______________________________________ 3-1 Secretary of the Senate 3-2 ______________________________________ 3-3 Member, Texas Senate